Judges Demand Armed Security in Courts

Over two hundred members of the Alliance of Magistrates and Judges have given the government a 10- day ultimatum to conclude all outstanding negotiations over their conditions of service.

To the group, failure to reach a settlement would compel them to declare a nationwide strike on March 21, 2018.

The Alliance of judges as a matter of necessity are demanding an end to the era of lack of personal security for judges and magistrates despite the fact that they are most likely to come into contact with litigants and criminals that frequent the courts.

The group also wants the government to address the issue of lack of security or adequate armed security in most courts, poor conditions of court rooms and chambers and payment of risk allowance in view of the precarious conditions they work.

Pay Us

Beyond the call for improved security, the judges and magistrates said the government has shown remarkable unwillingness to resolve the salary issues of the lower bench, evidence by its failure to produce the expected figures for 2018 salary to bring closure to the matter as agreed upon.

In a March 9, 2018 letter to the Judicial Service intercepted by THE PUBLISHER, serving notice to withdraw their services, the judges noted that the government had “shifted goal posts regarding agreed positions on specific issues at our previous meetings, employed certain maneuvers and given various excuses to delay the Lower Bench of what is rightly ours”.

The group finds it alarming the government’s refusal to pay the salary figures proposed by the Judicial Council for 2016 as approved by Parliament in the Appropriation Act to be paid to the Lower Bench effective January this year.

The judges recalled that the same attitude was exhibited between January to December last year regarding the payment of their fuel allowance adding that despite numerous letters and discussions, issues concerning the Lower Bench have generally never elicited any positive response despite the urgency involved.

It said “Historically, our dealings with the Ministry of Finance since 2013 have been characterized by the deliberate invention of errors and mistakes, withdrawal of salaries, reduction in salaries and delay tactics.”

Contempt

The judges believe these actions by the government are a violation of the Article 149 of the 1992 Constitution which states that their condition of service shall be determined by the President upon the advice of the Judicial Council.

“it is also a grievous interference with the independence of the judiciary and a calculated strategy to weaken the judiciary by keeping the majority of its members on the Lower Bench in penury” the letter claimed, insisting that “it is our view that the government’s attitude frustrates the work of the Judicial Council on the salaries of the Lower Bench by treating the work of the Council itself and the Lower Bench with contempt.”

By: Jeffrey De-Graft Johnson/ thePublisher